


Some say the world will end in fire

by orphan_account



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Acceptance, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Deathfic, Gen, Hopeful Ending, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Loss of Faith, Loss of Innocence, Meteorfall, Midgar, Puppet Cloud Strife, Shinra Company, Why Did I Write This?, Wordcount: 100-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 02:34:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13537854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Reeve comes to terms that they've failed and spends his final moments lamenting.Title from "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost.





	Some say the world will end in fire

Reeve watches Meteor hail down on them, ever so slowly descending on the metropolis of Midgar. He's at the top of the ShinRa building, watching placidly as Scarlet and Heidegger run around panicking. Rufus is probably as good as dead in his office. Reeve couldn't care less, really. If Rufus is dead, then they'll all be joining him soon. If Rufus is dead, then he'll die with the rest of them. There's only so much that wealth will bring you, after all.

He can't help but feel bad for Marlene. The poor girl's entire view of the world had been shattered. Elmyra had lost her faith in the Goddess. He's sure it's the same all around the world, but it's definitely happening more in Midgar. People in the Slums were very religious, it was one of the few things they could cling onto with hope, the children were smart but innocent. Reeve can only stare as the firey ball of death descends into the plate, burning up so many people. It's the plate section above Sector 5. Marlene and Elmyra will suffer the same, painful fate within the day, he remembers.

The windows are melting.

Reeve will be following them soon enough, he knows. He leans against the dark wooden conference table and puts a hand to his mouth. If only he could do something now. He can't. He knows he can't. He builds robots and roads and fixes the Slums and the Plate the best he can, but he can't fix this. He recognizes Cait Sith trying to get advice from him. Cloud's gone back to serving Sephiroth against his will. Reeve doesn't know what to say. He's accepted his death and they haven't. They may die sooner than he will at this rate.

Decidedly, he stands and walks to the window. He's rather tempted to touch the melting glass. The heat radiating off the usually cool surface is both surprising and not. Tifa and the others are trying to get through to him for advice. "I don't know what to tell you." He says. They go silent. "I'm completely ready to die. I might die today." He pauses. "Well, I am." He lets out a sardonic laugh. "I might die within the hour. Might not." Reeve backs away. "Meteor's already burning the Sector 5 plate."

He hears Barret's faint and desperate cry of 'Marlene!'

Calmly, he paces the room. "Just," starts Reeve, "just try not to get killed before I do, alright?" Almost like he'd been possessed, he dashes from the ShinRa building to Sector 5, fighting the crowd the entire time. They're trying to get as far away as possible. Elmyra and Marlene are probably still in their cottage. He hears the Sector 5 gate open before he sees AVALANCHE minus Cloud. Marlene is grasping at his back as he carries her and guides Elmyra away from Meteor. He puts down Marlene and watches as she runs to Barret immediately, jumping up into his waiting arms.

Cait Sith jumps down from the Mog's back and leaps onto Reeve's shoulders instead. "What's the plan?" Cait demands, looking like he's more than happy to fight the world. After Reeve's sigh and shake of his head, Cait looks at him inquisitively. "Reeve?"

He barely realized that AVALANCHE had looks of distrust on his face before Cait Sith had said his name. "There is no plan anymore." Reeve admits and puts Cait back onto the Mog. "Well, the plan is to get the people I can out of Midgar before Meteor totals the city, but..." He allows a self-mocking smile, but then pats Elmyra's shoulder and smiles genuinely at her. "Speaking of that plan,"

Not giving time for a reaction, Reeve bolts back to the ShinRa building. The least he can do is help these poor people. He's wheezing as he disables all the locks on the sector doors and quickly instructs the populous to find the nearest exit and leave the city. He might be useless outside of these situations and his talent for building robots to patrol would be completely and utterly useless, but he thinks that if they're going to die, then the robots wouldn't mind getting people out.

A day passes and Reeve is certain that he is the only one left in Midgar. Beautiful, burning Midgar. He's going to die from smoke inhalation before anything else, he knows. Choke to death. The fumes couldn't help either. But he can wait.

So he does. He sits in a chair and waits until his lungs eventually fail him and he begins to die. It hurts him to sit there and just die. He'd always been more of a headstrong kind of person who wouldn't just lay down and take it, but with this he had to. The last sight he sees is Cloud, looking distraught.

But the Lifestream is beautiful. His wife and daughter ought to be there, as well. And Aerith. The others he's known and loved in his life. In the Lifestream, he knows he won't suffer for too long. He'll join the rest, hopefully, and just become blissfully unaware of pain.

And become one with the Lifestream is exactly what he does.

**Author's Note:**

> don't ask me why I wrote this, I don't know. im in pain bc I wrote this


End file.
